Evidence abounds that taking money from one group and giving it to another does not work. Redistribution is the basic belief of Marxism, socialism, and liberalism and appears in various forms. Instead of solving problems of inequality it prevents the problems being identified or resolved, and those responsible being held accountable.

Canada now has the most expansive and generous, redistribution of wealth system, in the world. We call it equalization, and it started in 1957 to give residents of every province the same per capita revenue as those in the two wealthiest provinces, British Columbia and Ontario. It was determined using personal, corporate and inheritance taxes. In 1982, it was included, by an amendment to the constitution, through the Canada Act.

Wikipedia describes how “equalization payments are based on a formula that calculates the difference between the per capita revenue yield that a particular province would obtain using average tax rates and the national average per capita revenue yield at average tax rates.”Provinces are designated ”have” or “have not” if they receive payments or not.

Ontario was a “have” province from the start, but that changed in 2009-2010 when it became a “have not” province. In that year Newfoundland and Labrador, a “have not” province from the start, became a “have” province. The current “Have” provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan. The common denominator is they have all developed their oil, gas, and energy resources.

Ontario was a “have” province when Maurice Strong was appointed Chairman of Ontario Hydro in 1992. In that same year he chaired the “Earth Summit” of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), in Rio, at which the concepts of global warming, as a threat to the planet, were formalized. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) objective was designed to produce scientific proof that human CO2 was causing global warming.

We know the IPCC failed because every prediction they ever made was wrong. But that did not stop governments adopting green energy policies. Strong did it in Ontario with devastating results. Michael Moles was one person very aware of what Strong was doing:

“Within no time of his arrival, he firmly redirected and re-structured Ontario Hydro. At the time, Ontario Hydro was hell-bent on building many more nuclear reactors, despite dropping demand and rising prices. Maurice Strong grabbed the Corporation by the scruff of the neck, reduced the workforce by one third, stopped the nuclear expansion plans, cut capital expenditures, froze the price of electricity, pushed for sustainable development, made business units more accountable.”

Moles realized what was going on at Hydro and paid the price. Like most who dare to ask questions he was fired. You can read more about his story and discover why free speech is a myth. If it were true we wouldn’t need whistleblower protection.

Strong used Ontario to apply his green energy policy and, as always, the people pay the price. Even more troubling, it was completely unnecessary, because, for the last 19 years, global temperature leveled and declined while CO2 levels continue to increase. The cold winters of recent years made the costs even more damaging.

Ontario’s leaders knew about the failure of green energy policies at home and in other countries yet they continue to pursue them. The negative impacts of Strong’s policies grew as a 2010 Toronto Sun headline warned, “Expect a 46% hydro rate.”David Suzuki’s interference in McGuinty’s re-election likely guaranteed the continuance of Strong’s policies.

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government continues the destructive policies because the real costs are masked by Federal Transfer payments. In 2009 – 2010 Ontario received $347 million in transfer payments while Newfoundland received nothing.

Ontario leaders avoid reality while pursuing even more damaging policies. They reject fracking, clean coal and development of nuclear power. Wynne now rubs salt in frozen wounds with a proposed “carbon tax”. Why do people keep voting for those who promise programs that are proven failures? Thomas Jefferson provides part of the answer:

To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.

George Bernard Shaw identified another reason for the practice: “A government with the policy to rob Peter to pay Paul can be assured of the support of Paul.” The Canadian equalization scheme aids and abets them by removing incentive to change. It protects governments from accountability for their failed policies and perpetuates socialism that fails whenever it is tried.

Comments

This piece brought back to mind the following excerpts from the Foreward (to Michael Keating’s “Agenda for Change”) written by Maurice F. Strong as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Hydro & Chairman, The Earth Council:
“…fundamental change is required to replace unsustainable patterns of production and consumption.” … “Agenda 21, the action plan to implement the principles and agreements of Rio, is a blueprint for constructing the new world order called for at Rio.”

Thank you Mr. Tim Ball for exposing the culprit Maurice Strong. I worked for OPG back when this man headed Hydro and had serious doubts about
what he was up to at that time. Did you know that he and a group he was associated with wanted to buy Hydro back when he was head of the company and now the miserable weasel is living and working in China. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t behind this plan to bulk the G7 and other countries out of the hundreds of millions that China is demanding for their part in emmision control.

Thank you Tim for finally enunciating the root cause of Ont. industrial and economic decline. Yes it was aggressive UN enabled socialism – the net yield of this Malthusian global feudalism is to take vibrant, affluent, economically independent jurisdictions and turn them into a scorched earth economic wasteland with an ant hill culture. You can literally smell devastation on these elitist sociopaths. Their latest con is global crisis mongering then looting wealth and power from those terrified jurisdictions who buy into the fraud. But at this late date I don’t even believe the politicians who pimp this stuff believe it, they are just naked kleptocrats exploiting public fears.
So Ontario is 2 for 2 with UN globalist attacks on its productivity/economy under the guise of the green energy/carbon crisis bunko game. Alberta is next – the stage there is set. Canada, as a nation, will suffer this time when our two major wealth engines are turned off by globalist UN socialist governments. The fact most of the justification used for this wanton open rape of our prosperity, is based in widely debunked or questionable theories would be cause for revolt in a more enlightened age.

When the Alberta NDP crash Alberta’s economy and Alberta becomes a “have not” province how will that affect the other “have not” provinces, since Alberta at present contributes the lion’s share to the EQ program. Will the money be taken out of the federal coffers to compensate or do all the “have not” provinces get less? Just curious.

Thank you Tim Ball. The question really is why the media—CBC, CTV, Global—do not present the accurate picture of the Ontario situation that is so glaring. I recall Premier Smallwood telling the then Premier of Ontario how simple it was for Ontario to be rich. Those were the Ontario Golden Years. How sad for all of us that the change is so drastic.

I wonder when the Federal Government will start making some changes to the national welfare program? I would suggest, that if a province does not develop their natural resources, and contribute to Canada financially, then they should not share in the equalization payments.

I co-authored a research study (with two in-house staffers) for the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies last fall, 2014. In our study we highlighted the fact that Ontario started receiving equalization payments in 2009/10, as a newly-minted “have not” province. Our main point in the study was that, since that fiscal year, Ontario has been receiving a higher and higher percentage of total federal equalization payments. In 2014/15, according to federal data, Ontario received about $1.2-billion, leaving less and less for low-income Maritime provinces. On thing that struck me, in our research, is how little media play, from our so-called “national” media, has been directed to Ontario-as-a-have-not province. Virtually no media has discussed this. To my mind, this is because powerful media giants — like CBC and CTV News, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail — favour the Wynne Liberal government. So they refuse to discuss the Liberals’ poor economic record at all. — David Murrell (PhD), Economics, UNB at Fredericton dmurrell@unb.ca

Theft of private property(income tax/property tax etc) theft corporate corruption, corrupt legal/non justice system on and on and on! Degradation of immigration policies and sold out to UN Agenda 21 assures destruction of free society, mission accomplished. Police state is here through government rules and regulations. Morality gone! Systematic destruction of 10 commandments and adoption acceptance of 7 deadly sins is now the new norm. Civil society will never return until we once again try to follow the 10 commandments! I shall be a better person today.